Quick Jaunt to the Fields

Poor Dallin is nearly 8 months old and hasn't had his fair share of nature experiences yet. Oh, the deprivation of being the 4th child! On the way home from ice skating, Kevin turned west on the airport road and pulled over to a place we sometimes frequent for bird watching. Due to the randomness of the event, we were unprepared and had no binoculars. We still had an enjoyable time and saw a northern harrier, several Canada geese, blue-winged teal, red-winged and yellow-headed blackbirds, white-faced ibises, a marsh wren, some killdeer, and other random birds we don't recall.

Yesterday Dallin tried eating dandelion greens while at a park, and today he expanded his tastes to include cattail fluff. We should have taken a photo of the fluff all around his mouth, but we didn't. Here is his little fist, clutching his prize!

Megan spent most of her time petting and feeding this horse.

We think this scat is from a fox.

We watched and listened to this marsh wren for quite some time. He was staking out his place in some cattail reeds and kept hopping all over. Kevin finally caught a good photo of him when he flew away from the reeds.

All was well until we got ready to leave. The children were getting buckled into their seats and Kevin was taking a few more photos when suddenly Erin began screaming and wailing. She had unknowingly touched a honey bee that had flown into the Suburban, and it stung her left palm in self defense. Kevin tried to distract her from her trauma by showing her the stinger and explaining that the bee was now going to die. April found the injured bee on the floor and picked it up to show Erin. In the end, Erin was very brave about the ordeal and wanted to hold the bee too. When a second bee flew in the open door, Ian began to shriek and Erin told him, "Don't be scared! Bees are really nice unless you accidentally hurt them." Lesson accomplished!

We can't wait to get out again soon (if the weather would start cooperating more) and look for some nesting birds.

Ice Skating Reward

Enthusiasm has waned somewhat since the start of our goal, but nonetheless we are still plugging away. Passing on our baby girl clothes to cousins Emmy and Dagny for their babies helped out quite a bit for this chart. (Congratulations to Emmy and Brad on the birth of their beautiful little girl!)

The children chose to go skating at the Eccles Ice Center for the reward for reaching 500. With the semester coming to an end, Dad was able to accompany us which was more fun. We went during the public skating time around noon, and we almost had the rink to ourselves. There was another beginner couple like us and three other experienced skaters who were pretty fun to watch doing spins and tricks.

Erin didn't feel up to trying out ice skating quite yet, so she opted for a ride in the stroller around and around and around the rink. She also tried sliding along in her shoes while holding hands with Mom and Dad, but that wasn't too effective. Megan didn't fall at all the entire time--and she wasn't constantly holding onto the stroller like Mom. She took Erin around the rink a few times then skated on her own.

Dallin decided to take a nap after a couple of laps. He did wake again towards the end. Mom hadn't been ice skating since she was a teenager. She was glad to have the stroller as a crutch.

Ian improved his balance from the time he went skating with his scout group. He was not content to skate slowly along the edge but instead would go as fast as he could and then try little leaps or other daredevil moves. Needless to say, he won the prize for the most falls (and the most times picking himself up and going again!).

Next Prize: Miniature Golfing!

Brown Belt Test

USU's Kyu Shin Ryu Chapter met on Saturday for the annual belt advancement test. Ian was very nervous about it this year, perhaps because the brown belt test involved ukemi (skills of falling and rolling) and a kata (a choreographed sequence of positions) in addition to the usual test of kicks and punches.

Getting ready to warm up with the group...

The test:

Andrew, Ryan, Ian, Trenton, and Taggart with their new brown belts!
Don't pick a fight with any of these guys.

After the belts were awarded, it was sparring time! Ian did a great job and later lost a match to a larger and very quick boy named Alex. Andrew almost made it to the final trophy round but then got defeated by Alex too. Their friends Xavier and Taggart took 1st and 2nd place, respectively, after going into overtime. We thought it was great how the class members were cheering for both Taggart and Xavier during the final match. It's difficult when friends have to compete against each other. Everyone exhibited good sportsmanship.

Ian's and Andrew's Cheering Section
(along with Erin, Dad, and Mom who aren't pictured)

Ian and Andrew with Sensei Gary Connors
They have been together in karate for 4 years now.
Andrew will be moving to the adult class next year, and Ian will miss being with him.



Until next fall..."Be good kids, and DON'T START FIGHTS!"

Earth Day

Kevin invited the family to join the Earth Day festivities at the USU Brigham City Campus.

Erin, Dallin, and April took a tour of the Little Brigham Aggies' new playground which is really great. The design is plastic free! They have an awesome sandbox, some small grassy hills for the children to roll down, boulders to climb on, and they will be adding a tree house and garden plot for the children to grow their own vegetables. Maybe I should send Erin with Kevin and enroll her in their day care...

And look, it's Kevin with an electric scooter! Hmm...wonder what he's doing at that display.

And, unrelated to Earth Day, we wanted to show off Dallin's locomotion skills. Video footage is forthcoming, hopefully. He's getting up on all fours, rocking, and lunging forward. He sometimes manages to get stuck periodically as pictured below.

USU Piano Festival 2009

Months/days/hours of hard practicing paid off today for Megan at USU's annual Piano Festival. She performed Albinez's Prelude to Songs of Spain for 3 judges in a room where only the contestants were allowed. (Parents had to listen out in the hallway next to the door.) She received many positive comments from the judges along with an Honorable Mention Award for the Romantic Era Division Ages 14 and under). Hooray for Megan! We are so proud of you!

Ian also did a great job in the festival. He performed two solo pieces in the non-competition category.

We are blessed to have our children making lovely music in our home and we appreciate all the hard work they have put into learning to play the piano.

Spring is In the Air

Happy Spring from Our Family to Yours!

The forsythia was in bloom at Grandma T's house over General Conference Weekend.
We enjoyed the hint of spring, but have since been depressed
with lots of rain and snow. We want more sun!

Dallin turned 7 months old on 5 April!
He has 4 teeth, can move all over the floors using steamroller locomotion,
but still isn't sitting up yet. He loves playing with his brothers and sisters.
Stranger anxiety has surfaced, however, and any non-immediate family members
or friends can readily elicit a crumpled up face and loud wailing.

Beautiful Bacteria!
Kevin was most pleased with his photograph of this culture from
one of his microbiology labs. He thinks it might be Bacillus subtilis, but is not sure.
It's amazing to see the complex multicellular organization even though
it is made by billions of independent single-celled individuals.

Believe it or not, the boy has a bit of hair.
If we were prone to hairstyling, which we are not,
we might be possessed to gel Dallin's mohawk for public appearances.

Easter 2009
We celebrated in SLC and attended Grandma Young's annual family party,
complete with lots of yummy food. The children dyed 4 dozen eggs,
went on an Easter Egg hunt, and got too many treats from
both sets of grandparents. We all had a great time.